


and they called it puppy love

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, M/M, Puppies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 01:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3671790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo comes home to his neighbor's puppy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and they called it puppy love

**Author's Note:**

> for emmi ♡ kurodai puppies!

Kuroo is a cat person.

He’s always considered himself a cat person, but he’s not sure if that’s due to his general lack of exposure to any other kinds of animals in general or just something in his nature. He’d never had any pets, but when he’d been younger, in elementary school, there had been a stray tabby cat that would sometimes lounge on his porch in the evenings. His mother, from time to time, would set some food out for the feline, and on a couple rare occasions, it would let Kuroo pet it. He never named it or anything, just kind of mentally called it _Cat_ , but it was the closest thing Kuroo could probably consider something like a pet.

And as he grew older, Kuroo never found the need for pets, either. Maybe he couldn’t miss what he’d never had, maybe his life was filled with enough people to void the empty space that might take place if he had no friends or something. Isn’t that what people got pets for?

But Kuroo supposes he likes cats well enough, so he guesses he’s a cat person.

So he definitely does not expect, of all things, to be assaulted by a tiny, yipping puppy when he opens his apartment door after arriving home from work.

 _Assaulted_ probably isn’t the right word to use, either, judging by the way the tiny creature is barking its little high-pitched bark and pawing at his pants as it stands on its hind legs, tail spinning so rapidly that it’s all but a blur.

“Oh, um,” Kuroo says to no one in particular (maybe to the puppy?) as he looks down, surprised. Maybe it’s a prank from one of his friends? Or one of them had gotten a new puppy? Lev, perhaps? And decided to break into his apartment while they were at it? Kuroo doubts Lev would go that far, and that he was even able to break into anyone’s house. “Hello?” he calls out tentatively, just in case. As expected, there is no response but for the cheerful _yip!_ that comes from below.

“Where did you come from, little guy?” he says softly as he bends down to meet the mystery puppy at eye level. He reaches a hand out so the puppy can sniff at it (that’s what people do, right…? he’s not sure), but it ignores his hand and leans in close to begin licking at his nose. “Hey!” Kuroo protests, leaning back and chuckling. He stands again, scooping the puppy into his arms as he does so. Its fur is soft and golden, its ears flopping gently on either side of its face (currently occupied with staring up adoringly at Kuroo from its position against the crook of Kuroo’s elbow).

There’s no one else in his apartment, that’s for sure, so where in the world did the puppy come from? It wriggles excitedly in his grasp, tail thumping steadily against his forearm, and Kuroo can’t help but to give it a tiny rub on its head, smiling unconsciously. It really is a cute puppy, but it can’t stay here--it probably belongs to someone and got lost, and Kuroo is definitely not equipped to be taking care of a dog by himself, nor is he looking forward to being labelled as a dog-napper or anything.

He sets the puppy down gently on the floor, where it immediately plops its rear end down with a soft whine and looks up at Kuroo expectantly, its eyes going wide and yearning.

“Aw, bud, you like to be held?” Kuroo says, his voice going soft and crooning automatically. Gosh, he’d always cringed a little whenever he heard people babytalking at their pets, but he understands now that it just _happens_. He’s about to bend down to pick the puppy back up, but he’s interrupted by a voice calling loudly from the hallway. And at the sound of the voice, the puppy is suddenly leaping back up and running clumsily towards the door, barking as loud as its little lungs would let it.

Kuroo, belatedly, realizes he had forgotten to close the door behind him when he came back, too distracted by the random appearance of a _puppy_ in his home. The little guy goes bolting out the door, and Kuroo scrambles after it quickly.

“Hey, come back!” he calls, just in time for him to knock straight into whoevers voice it had been in the hallway. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry!” he says reflexively, stumbling back. The puppy is still there, running happy little circles around their feet and _arf_ -ing cheerfully.

“Taro!” the other guy cries, bending down to gather the puppy into his arms. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” He doesn’t even seem to notice that Kuroo is there, but Kuroo can connect the dots for himself easily enough.

“Is that your dog?” Kuroo asks, watching on as the guy laughs while the puppy (Taro, he presumes), busies himself with bathing the guy’s entire face.

“Yeah! Hey, sorry for running into you, also,” he replies, finally turning to look at Kuroo, a grin on his face. 

“It’s no problem,” Kuroo assures, and hey--this guy is pretty good looking. He’s shorter than Kuroo by a couple centimeters, but he’s got broad shoulders and toned arms and a really, really handsome face, especially with the smile adorning it the way it is now. He squints over the guy’s shoulder, noticing the door across the hall slightly ajar. “Oh! You’re 312, from across next door,” he recognizes. This is the first time they’ve met, it seems--just never had the opportunity before, or something.

“Yeah, Sawamura Daichi, nice to meet you. Thanks for finding Taro, by the way, how’d you manage to get him?” Sawamura says, cradling Taro with one hand so he can hold out the other for a handshake.

His palms are really nice and warm, Kuroo notices. He swallows a little, because--shit, this guy is _really_ attractive. “Kuroo Tetsurou,” he introduces. “And I found this lil’ guy in my apartment when I got home, just a few minutes ago. No idea how he got in there, though.” He reaches forward to rub Taro’s ears affectionately, and 

“Huh,” Sawamura muses, “that’s strange. I left him inside my apartment with the door locked when I left earlier today, I’m sure if it.”

“Well, at least he’s where he belongs now,” Kuroo replies, stroking one of Taro’s paws where they’re dangling over Sawamura’s (well sculpted, he notices) forearms.

“Yeah, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him so early on. He’s still just a baby,” Sawamura says, hefting Taro in his arms and looking down at the pup with a fond expression.

This might just be too much. A extremely cute guy cradling an extremely cute puppy is in front of him, and he isn’t dreaming. This is real.

“Indeed he is. Aren’t you, boy?” Taro wags his tail happily in response, but all the action seems to have tuckered him out, because he is slowly but surely relaxing in Sawamura’s hold, eyes closer to sliding shut with every blink. “I guess today was a busy day for him, huh.”

“Yeah,” Sawamura chuckles. The sound is really quite lovely, Kuroo realizes, all deep and smooth. How long has he been living right next to this treasure without knowing? “Ah, I hope he didn’t mess anything up in your apartment!”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Kuroo says easily. If there had been anything messed up--or any...suspicious stains, he hadn’t seen them, but it would probably be worth it anyway.

“Alright, well...thanks again! Feel free to stop by and play with Taro anytime you like, I’m sure he could do with a new friend,” Sawamura says as he begins walking--slowly, as to not wake Taro--back to his door. But it’s too late, because Taro blinks awake blearily, and begins crying once he realizes that they are leaving Kuroo. He wriggles unhappily in Sawamura’s grasp, whining and pawing in Kuroo’s direction. Sawamura blinks down at the puppy in mild surprise, giving a small, amused _huh_. “I guess he really likes you, Kuroo-san. You must be really good with dogs?”

“Well, what’s not to like?” Kuroo says before he can stop himself. _Crap_ , he thinks afterwards. Curse him and his pension for automatic witty remarks. But to his surprise, Daichi is laughing, grin spreading wide and handsome over his face.

“Listen,” he says, looking a little bit unsure. But he continues anyway, “Would you like to come over for coffee or something? I’m sure Taro would be happy to spend some more time with you.” There’s a faint blush dusting his cheeks now and he’s looking sheepishly at Kuroo’s shoulder instead of his eyes.

“I’d love to,” Kuroo says, heart leaping. Today must honestly be his lucky day, so he decides--fuck it, he’s going to do it. “But on one condition.”

“What...what’s that?” Sawamura’s eyes widen, and he looks… _nervous_.

Kuroo grins and walks over so he can bend down to rub Taro’s soft, sleepy face (and also as an excuse to get on eye level with Sawamura). “I get to watch Taro whenever you go out, so he won’t have to be alone.”

Sawamura’s sighs in relief, a pleased smile crossing his features. “That would be really good, actually. Thank you so much, Kuroo-san.”

“Just Kuroo is fine, no need to be so formal,” Kuroo says, waving his hand around casually.

“Then you can call me Daichi, most people do. So, about that coffee?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

* * *

In the end, Kuroo figures he’s actually a people person. But if he had to pick an animal, puppies are definitely at the top of his list now, especially if they lead to him getting to meet people like Sawamura Daichi.

**Author's Note:**

> wahhh i wish i could have made this longer for you but...you know what happens whenever i try to write something "short"
> 
> puppysoulmates ♡


End file.
